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Doubles served on white plate. Next to extra bara, chana filling, sauces and chutneys.
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5 from 1 vote

Easy Trinidad Doubles Recipe

Trinidad doubles is a very popular Indo-Caribbean street food. A delicious vegan flatbread sandwich filled with flavorful chana, chutneys, and sauces. 
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Breakfast, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: Carribean
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • 1 Cast Iron Pot Store Finished Bara
  • 1 Pot for Frying To Fry Bara Dough
  • 1 Saucepan To Make Channa Filing
  • 1 Mixing Bowl To Make Bara Dough
  • 1 Measuring spoons and cups
  • 1 Thongs
  • 1 Spoons to Mix
  • Paper Towels
  • 1 Brown Parchment Paper

Ingredients

Bara Dough

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Yeast
  • 2 tsp Cane Sugar or Turbando
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 - ¼ cup Warm Water (more or less if needed)
  • 1 tablespoon Neutral Oil Vegetable or Avocado Oil
  • ¼ - ½ tsp Baking Soda or Turmeric/ Saffron See Blog Post For Details
  • 3-4 cups Neutral Oil For Spreading/Forming and Frying

Cooking Dried Channa

  • 1 cup Dried Channa/Garbanzo/Chick Peas Or 2 Cans of Fully Cooked Garbanzo/Chick Peas/Channa (No Baking Soda Needed)
  • 1- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Soda Divided
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 4-8 cups Water Soaking and Cooking

Seasoned Channa Filling

  • ½ teaspoon Tumeric or Saffron
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Cane Sugar or Turbando (optional)
  • 1 tsp Salt or to taste
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon Roasted Ground Geera or Amchar Masala or to taste
  • 3 tablespoons Green Seasoning divided
  • 2 cups Water or more if needed
  • ¼ cup Cooked & Blended Yellow Peas/Red Lentils/Dhal (optional) - See Post

Chutney & Sauce Options- Tamarind Chutney, Cucumber Chutney, Coconut Chutney, and Pepper Chutney (See Post)

Instructions

Bara Dough

  • Add yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of warm water to small bowl. Wait a few minutes for yeast to bloom.
  • In a large mixing bowl add flour and salt. Can also add turmeric or baking soda (if using it). Mix well.
  • Add water yeast mixture to flour mixture. Mix until combined and add extra warm water if needed to form a very soft almost sticky dough ball. With hands spread one tablespoon of neutral oil onto the bara dough. Cover with a kitchen towel.
  • Let rest or soak for 1-2 hours or longer if possible about 4 hours for a softer bara. It can be also made the night before and stored covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • When ready to fry heat oil on stove top to high heat.
  • With oiled hands, portion the bara dough into 16 pieces. Divided the dough in half. Half each piece to form 4 pieces. Then form each of those pieces into 4 to make 16 pieces. Form into soft balls and cover.
  • Place neutral oil onto your countertop. With well oiled hands and countertop spread each dough ball to form a very thin/flat circle. It does not have to be a perfect circle and if it tears a little in some spots, it's ok.
  • Place flattened dough into hot oil. Fry each side for 10-15 seconds about 20-30 seconds altogether. Remove bara with thongs and place into a covered cast iron pot lined with paper towels to keep warm.

Cooking Dried Channa

  • The night before place 1 cup of dried channa, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 4 cups of water into a large bowl. About 6-8 hours to soak.
  • The next day strain the water and rinse the channa to remove the baking soda. Use the cooking method of your choice (stovetop or instant pot) to fully cook the channa adding an additiional ½ teaspoon of baking soda and salt while it's cooking. When fully cooked strain the channa and set aside.
  • Stovetop - 4 cups of water and cook for about 45 minutes- 1 hour.
    Instant Pot - 3 cups of water and cook 5-7 with natural pressure release (about 15-20 minutes).

Seasoned Channa Filling

  • Note: If you using canned channa/chick peas/garbanzo beans strain and rinse with water.
  • In a saucepan place water, cooked channa, turmeric or saffron, sugar, baking soda, one tablespoon of green seasoning, and geera or amachar masala.
  • Bring to a boil and simmer until it's to your preferred thickened consistancy. Remember as the channa filling cools it will thicken up.
  • (Optional) - You can remove about ¼ cup of the channa mixture and blend it. Add it back into the channa filling or add ¼ cup of cooked blended yellow peas/dhal if you prefer.
  • When it's at the right consistency mix in the remaining green seasoning.

Serving Doubles

  • Place 2 soft and warm bara's onto a plate or brown parchment paper.
  • Top with seasoned warm channa filling and your favorite chutneys and sauces.
  • Now it's ready to serve or wrap up the doubles in the brown paper for that Caribbean street food feel. Enjoy.